Snow photos from this afternoon. Got up there just in time to see the snow come in. Not sure if there will still be any around tomorrow morning, might depend on conditions overnight. There are a couple of large trees down one near the suspension bridge and another along the Ash Track so access is a little bit difficult, hopefully they will be cleaned up soon.
Looking off the Suspension Bridge after light dusting of snow.
After some very windy and cold weather at the end of winter including the snow of only a week and a half ago, the last day of winter was almost perfect. The first day of Spring tomorrow also promises to be just as good. Calm winds and blue skies made today a gem of a day to be at Tarra Bulga. Birds were all around, and spring flowers were starting to bloom. The Silver Wattles were bright yellow and sections of the walking tracks were covered in fallen Sassafras flowers. A Male Lyrebird landing on a tree just above my head was a breathtaking moment on such an ideal day to be in such a magnificent place.
Heavy snowfalls are a relatively rare event at Tarra Bulga National Park. Â A large dump in August 2005 caused a lot of damage to the park’s vegetation due to the weight of the snow. Today’s snow is the biggest dump since this event and hopefully the damage will not be too severe but it certainly will have an impact.
This morning there were plenty of tree branches cracking under the weight of the snow and in more open areas shrubs were taking a battering.  Tree Ferns are an ideal shape to catch snow on  their fronds, but thankfully they seem very good at recovering from damage. The area where our working bee was a week and a half ago was covered in snow, which is not an ideal start for our newly planted Mountain Ash seedlings.
It was interesting to see the Fauna’s reaction to the sudden icy change to their landscape with a confused Kangaroo hopping about (outside the park boundary) and Lyrebirds and other species buzzing around and looking a bit agitated. The snow would have affected mainly the higher elevations in the park, with sites along the Grand Ridge Rd catching the heaviest falls.
Welcome to Balook
Turn-off into Visitors Centre
Grand Ridge Rd next to Park Entrance
Visitors Centre Entrance
Visitors Centre
Next to the Visitors Centre
Nice day for a picnic, Not!!
Not the best day for a BBQ
Snow Scene
Grand Strzelecki Track Sign – Prepare for all conditions.
A row of Blackwood Trees planted in honour of Cedric Ralph
This deciduous tree near the park entrance is coping better with the snow than the indigenous species.
Shrubs struggling under the weight of the snow
Snapped branches on this Sapling due to the snow.
This Silver Wattle has snapped in half at the trunk.
Tree fern fronds bending down under the weight of the snow.
Tree fern fronds bending down under the weight of the snow.
Eastern Yellow Robin not enjoying the snow.
Plantation across the road from Tarra Bulga copping a battering.
Off to the right is where had our planting day a week and a half ago. Not great for the new trees.
Friends of Tarra-Bulga National Park 